I collect zombie kings in the apocalypse.

Chapter 44 The Zombie Horde's Strength Surges

On the second floor, after everyone had cleaned several rooms in succession.

In room 203, another survivor was found, and Zhao Yongqiang played the radio again.

Finally, an elderly male voice came from inside, wary and slow: "You claim to be superhumans, how do you prove it?"

This time, Lu Chen replied, "I can control zombies; you can see that just by looking through the peephole."

As he spoke, he directed Tiezhu and Erzhu to stand on either side of the other's doorway like two gatekeepers.

A moment later, the door opened and an elderly man in his sixties came out.

On the third floor, in room 305, Ning Tieshan held up the radio. After the recording finished playing, the door opened.

A young man in his early twenties stood at the door, with a middle-aged couple behind him. The three of them squeezed into the entrance hall. When they saw the zombies in the corridor, they all took a step back, but when they saw the radio still making a sound in Ning Tieshan's hand, they regained their composure.

4th floor, 5th floor, 6th floor, pushing upwards floor by floor.

Whenever they encountered a room with survivors, they would leave one field agent down to play recordings and communicate with the zombies, while also leaving a zombie guard behind.

If you encounter someone who is really too long-winded, like the middle-aged man on the 6th floor who asked seven or eight questions repeatedly after listening to the recording.

Lu Chen didn't tolerate any of the questions, from "How many people do you have?" to "Can you guarantee our safety?" and then to "Will you use us as bait?"

He set a rule for everyone: if they didn't agree within 15 minutes, they should leave first, and then come back to ask again after the whole building was cleared.

If you still don't want to leave, then we won't force you. If you want to stay in the room and wait for the official rescue team, then you can stay.

He's not doing charity work; time is the scarcest resource right now.

Of course, Shen Qingci's side made even faster progress due to their ability to conduct precise investigations.

There's no need to even send someone to knock on the door to confirm. She can just stand in the corridor, close her eyes, and know exactly which room on the entire floor has zombies, which has people, and which is empty.

She led the elite zombies to break down doors one by one, killing any zombies she found and having the field staff broadcast announcements to any survivors, saving herself the trouble of taking detours.

Both sides are progressing very quickly, with an average of 10 minutes to complete an entire floor, and both sides are working simultaneously.

Of course, if some unforeseen circumstances occur, this speed will be slowed down a bit.

This special situation occurs when encountering a strong zombie of the "Big Strong" or even the "Iron Pillar" level.

Lu Chen encountered one on the 7th floor. After Zhao Yongqiang knocked on the door of 702, the roar coming from inside was deeper and more powerful than ever before. The door was banged on loudly, and the whole door shook inside the frame.

Lu Chen knew from the noise that this was no ordinary creature. Tie Zhu jammed the crowbar in, and the moment the door sprang open, a zombie about the size of Da Zhuang pounced out, knocking Tie Zhu back half a step.

"Capture him alive!" Lu Chen's eyes lit up.

He had Tie Zhu stand in front of him, while Er Zhu went around from the side. The two Tie Zhu-level zombies attacked from both sides, quickly pinning down the Da Zhuang-level zombie.

Ning Tieshan went up and tied it securely with nylon rope. After confirming it was safe, Lu Chen stepped forward and subdued it, replacing an ordinary zombie.

It took almost 5 minutes longer than usual, but it was a happy problem.

The same scene happened to Shen Qingci, but with the elite zombies around, they crushed her instantly, pinning her down and having the field crew tie her up.

Before we knew it, it was noon.

With such efficient progress, it only took the two sides a little over two hours to completely clear out the zombies in buildings 2 and 4.

The sun was already directly overhead, its rays shining directly onto the ground in the community, completely dispelling the lingering morning chill.

The two sides met again at the main entrance of Building 3.

Lu Chen arrived first, standing at the entrance of Building 3, followed by 15 fully armed zombies and a large group of survivors.

The knives held by several large, strong zombies had been replaced with new ones, the blades covered in dried, dark red blood that gleamed dully in the sunlight.

Ning Tieshan, Zhao Yongqiang, and Wei Dong walked at the back of the group. Ning Tieshan carried an iron rod on his shoulder, his forehead covered in sweat. Zhao Yongqiang's voice was already a little hoarse; he had spoken more this morning than in the previous three days combined.

Twenty-one survivors followed behind the zombie horde. There were men, women, and children. Some were carrying packages, some were holding children's hands, and some were empty-handed and hadn't had time to grab anything before following along.

Their faces still showed a mixture of disbelief and relief. When they saw the sunlight, some raised their hands to shield their eyes, while others took a deep breath of the outside air, even though it smelled of blood, it was still better than the stuffy room they had been in for three days.

Shen Qingci's group arrived quickly. She walked at the front, her forehead beaded with sweat, but she looked very energetic.

Behind them were 25 survivors, forming a line even longer than Lu Chen's.

Two field staff members walked together, one leading the way and the other bringing up the rear, calling out as they went, "Keep up, keep up, don't fall behind."

At the very back of the group were five zombies, all of them large and strong, being dragged along by elite zombies who each held a nylon rope in one hand.

As a result, the number of survivors increased by 46 in one go.

Lu Chen brought back 21 people, and Shen Qingci brought back 25 people. Together with the original 20 people on the 5th floor, the team now has a total of 66 people.

Less than three hours had passed since he received the latest notification about Project Dawn at 9 a.m. this morning, and the number of survivors under his command had more than doubled.

Of course, it wasn't just the survivors who reaped the rewards, but also the zombies.

During the sweep, Lu Chen encountered one Iron Pillar-level and three Big Strong-level creatures.

The Iron Pillar-sized one was found on the 12th floor. Iron Pillar and it went head-to-head for several rounds, and in the end, Iron Pillar held it down from the front while the other two Pillars locked it from the side. Only by working together could they subdue it.

After these zombies were captured, Lu Chen immediately released the control of the four ordinary zombies and replaced them with one Iron Pillar-level and three Strong-level zombies.

He didn't kill the four ordinary zombies that were replaced; he had the field crew tie them up again and take them back to be kept in custody for later use.

At this moment, they saw that Shen Qingci had captured 5 large, strong-class animals.

He had the elite zombies drag them over one by one, then picked 5 ordinary zombies from his own team to release them from control, freeing up 5 slots.

Reaching out and pressing on his waist, he activated his supernatural power, killing one every 10 seconds.

In less than a minute, all five large, strong-sized animals were under control.

The five ordinary zombies that were replaced were also re-tied up, stuffed with strips of cloth, and piled together with the four that had been replaced earlier.

At this point, Lu Chen's number of Iron Pillar-level zombies increased from 2 to 3.

The number of "Big Strong" level zombies is even more outrageous, skyrocketing from 5 last night to 13 now.

He now has only 11 ordinary zombies left.

"I'll replace these ones this afternoon too," Lu Chen thought to himself.

Based on the efficiency this morning, if we sweep two more buildings this afternoon, we can probably replace these 11 ordinary zombies with zombies at the Da Zhuang or even Tie Zhu level.

By then, not a single ordinary corpse would be left among his horde.